Graduate acknowledges business parents

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A university graduate has attributed his academic success at a Chinese university to his parents’ business background.

Stefan Szegedi returned from China recently with a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Science and Technology Beijing in the People’s Republic of China.

“I started in September 2016 and ended in June 2018, so it took me two years to conduct my program. When I was in high school, during holidays I always worked in the family business and it’s something that I am passionate about and I really believe in. It gave me great joy to have some sort of contribution to my parent’s business,” he said.

“I am the first person in my family that has attained a university degree. My parents are successful business people but never had the opportunity to go to university. For me, that was the extra motivation that pushed me in pursuing further education.”

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The study in China came courtesy of the Government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but the two-year scholarship program in Beijing was a challenge due to the language barrier and the enormity of the city, making it difficult to move from one part of the city to another.

“You have that language barrier and different cultures, and not only that but figuring out how to get from one place to the other. And sometimes it took an hour or two to get from one place to the other if you are lucky.”

Stefan thanked the Chinese government for offering educational opportunities to Samoans and acknowledged the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs scholarship committee, which played an instrumental role in giving him the scholarship.

His mother Christa Szegedi said they were elated with their son’s achievements and his graduation gave them the opportunity to travel all the way to China.

Samoan students studying in China were also acknowledged for surprising him with a graduation gift of necklaces made out of candies.

“A lot of my classmates asked what it was all for and I told them it is part of our Samoan culture,” he added.